The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,133
Ma Bridge. “Where exactly is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital?” Ava asked from the back seat.
“King’s Park, in the southern part of Kowloon.”
“I need to change before going to the hospital, so we’ll go to the Mandarin first. My other clothes are still there. I didn’t check out when I left yesterday.”
He looked at her in the rear-view mirror, his eyes questioning. “Are you really going to the Queen Elizabeth?”
“I am.”
“He’ll be angry.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, he loves you enough that he’ll probably forgive you.”
“How about you? Do you want to come in with me?”
“Me? No, me he would never forgive.”
“That’s not true.”
Sonny shrugged his massive shoulders. “Maybe it isn’t, but I still can’t do it.”
“Which part of the hospital is he in?” Ava asked.
“R Block — that’s where I think all the cancer patients go. It’s fifteen storeys high. Hard to imagine how many sick people there are that they need a building that size.”
“And you said he was getting radiation therapy?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll find him.”
“Ava, I called the hospital this morning to ask about visiting hours. They’re only from five thirty to seven thirty.”
“I’m not waiting until five thirty. I’m going there after I change.”
He looked at her in the mirror again and then fixed his gaze on the road.
( 52 )
She met Sonny in the hotel lobby at one thirty. She wore a plain white shirt, black slacks, low-heeled pumps, and no makeup. The simple clothing fitted her mood. She still wore her Cartier watch and jade cufflinks, however, and her hair was fastened with the ivory chignon pin. This was Hong Kong, after all. She knew the jewellery signified money, and money meant influence. If the hospital staff knew she had guanxi, then they might not be so reluctant to waive visiting-hour rules.
Sonny dropped her off at the main entrance to R Block, on Gascoigne Road. She stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes, looking up at it and gathering herself. Queen Elizabeth was the most massive hospital Ava had ever seen. The main building was thirteen storeys high, and it was surrounded by others even higher, including R Block. Now that she was actually there, some of the bravado that had fuelled her since meeting Sonny at the airport began to ebb. What’s the worst thing that could happen? she thought. They won’t let me see him until five thirty?
Ava walked through the front doors into an immense lobby that was almost as busy as an MTR station. There was an information desk directly ahead, with a line of about ten people waiting for help. She saw a hospital directory off to the left and went to it. She had no idea exactly what she was looking for, but when saw “Cancer Patient Resource Centre” on the sixth floor, she figured it was as good a place to start as anywhere.
She rode the elevator with two people in wheelchairs who were surrounded by what looked like anxious family members. Ava hated hospitals — not for what they did, but simply for the pain and suffering they represented. She had never had a prolonged stay in one herself. Even the bullet in her thigh hadn’t kept her in the private hospital in Macau for more than a day. Marian had been less lucky. She had had her tonsils removed and then her appendix, and Jennie had insisted on dragging Ava along to visit her sister. It had been more than awkward, with Ava hopping up and down on one leg, hardly able to look at the patient.
The patient resource centre was as crowded as the lobby had been. Ava went to the reception desk and got in line. When she finally reached the desk, she found herself looking down at a small, chubby woman with dark skin and white teeth. “How can I help you today?” she asked in a Filipino accent.
“My name is Ava Lee. I’m here to see my grandfather, Chow Tung. I’ve just flown in from Canada and came directly to the hospital. I don’t know what room he’s in.”
The woman typed the name into her computer. “Yes, Mr. Chow is here, but visiting hours aren’t until five thirty.”
“I’m a family member.”
“There are no family members listed in his profile,” the woman said as she checked her screen.
“Probably because he wasn’t expecting me to fly here so soon.”
“There are no members listed.”
“Please . . . Margarita,” Ava said, reading the woman’s nametag. “I’m all the family he has left in this world and I’ve flown